LibreWRT: What we use for wifi at the FSF

I would like to take a few moments to introduce Buffalo, the access
point and router which provides network connectivity to portable
computers in the FSF's office.

More specifically, we are using Buffalo
WZR-HP-G300NH, which features the free-software-supported Atheros
AR9132 chipset with 32MB of flash memory and 64MB of RAM.

Previously, Buffalo ran OpenWRT, a GNU/Linux firmware
distribution which is very popular with tinkerers seeking to gain a
greater understanding and control of their own embedded devices.
Despite representing an important advancement compared to proprietary
stock firmware which usually comes preinstalled on devices like
Buffalo, OpenWRT unfortunately still contains some binary blobs for
which source code is not available.

Recently, a community of concerned programmers has emerged determined
to remedy this situation. To advance the free software frontier in yet
another area, they have built LibreWRT, a completely free GNU/Linux
distribution for embedded devices, based on OpenWRT. Once the project
evolved into a full–fledged distribution, the FSF was eager to give it
a try.

Thus, encouraged by assurances in the documentation that Buffalo is
virtually impossible to brick, I set out to flash the device with
"Creative Craftsman," the current development version of LibreWRT.
First, I needed to build the image. Thanks to clear documentation and
use of familiar tools such as GNU make, the process of building the
LibreWRT image for Buffalo turned out to be pretty straightforward.1
When in doubt about the next step to take, I sought help on the
#librewrt IRC channel of Freenode, where I received useful advice
from the developers of the project every time I asked.

After I finished the build process and identified which of the
generated images is the appropriate one, I proceeded with flashing via
TFTP without major difficulties following instructions on the OpenWRT
wiki.2 Once logged in, I was presented with BusyBox, a popular
lightweight free software Unix-like environment. Even for those
without much expertise in router configuration, configuring LibreWRT
is relatively painless. Again, the OpenWRT wiki has plentiful
resources to guide the user through the entire process with many
examples of the most commonly used setups.3

With the final stage concluded, I am happy to report that Buffalo has
been chugging along without any hiccups providing wired as well as
wireless network connectivity for all the portable computers in our
office for over a week now. It used to be the FSF's only computing
device containing binary blobs. Now, the FSF can proudly confirm that
even all of the unused software present on its computing devices is
free. To learn more about LibreWRT, and how you can use and
support the project, head to their official wiki at
http://librewrt.org.